Help! 6 month old nap routine

[Beachbaby1]

DD is 6 months old. For the last month or so it has been increasingly difficult to get her to nap during the day. It is stressing me (and probably her) out and ruining my final weeks of maternity leave.

I try to follow all the advice I read on here: the easy routine, 2hr wake time max, nap in something that moves with dummy etc. Despite my best efforts, some days she seems to have less than 3 hours of day sleep!

The major issue is the late afternoon nap; the only way it will happen is if we go out in the car - a habit I do not want to get into. She often wakes from her 2nd nap any time between 1 and 2.30 which should mean we can squeeze another nap before bedtime which is 7.30. If she doesn't have this nap then she would be awake for 5 hours...when this happens she is manic/hyper by 6 and finally zonks out around 7.

Should I persist with the late afternoon power nap? Should I bring her bedtime forward to 6? I have read briefly on here about the 2.3.4 routine - is that worth trying?

Any help/advice/pointing out the obvious would be much appreciated.

TIA

My DS is 7 months and still needs 3 naps a day-otherwise he would either be going to bed for the night at 6pm at the very very latest (and up at 5am!). He also wakes from his 2nd nap between 1 and 2pm
If its closer to 1 he will go in his cot around 4.15 for a nap until 5pm. If its closer to 2pm then I struggle to get him to nap in his cot and I just put him in the baby bjorn at 430pm whilst i make the tea and he naps for 30 mins, seeing him through until 730pm bedtime.

3 hours over 3 naps is not terrible at 6 months old.

What is the arrangements of the naps? I'd try stretching the first two lots of awake time.

I'd also start moving naps into the cot, now they are over an hour. Do you have an in-cot settling method that you use at bedtime?

Thanks for the replies.

I do aim to have her final nap around 4 but it can take over an hour and a half for her to fall asleep (usually with resorting to the car) so she is not waking up till 6ish which means she won't go down finally till 9!

Her first nap is usually around 10ish after being awake for about 3 hours. This is either in her bouncy chair or in the car if we are going out anyway. Usually naps for about 45 mins. Second nap I aim for 2 hours after she wakes up from her first - this is often in her pram in which she will nod off quite easily. If it's at home it can take a very long time for her settle.

Bedtime settling is straightforward - cuddles/rocked till drowsy and then put down in cot with dummy, the dream sheep and sometimes a hand hold. I tried this during the day a few times but after an hour of whining and flapping around I gave up and went for a drive!

You could try bringing the first nap forward. 3 hours seems quite a long awake time here. My DS can manage 2h15-2h20 at this time.
That might then allow for more time later in the day for the 3rd nap (or may get you a longer nap!)

I would make the morninh nap earlier, more 9-9.30am. Also make this one specifically a cot nap.

Then make next nap 1pm. If a pushchair nap works for you for this nap, that's fine. Or move to the cot like the first nap.

Then 3rd nap will depend on the length of the first two. If baby woke before 3pm then I know my baby would need a third nap. But if the nap is longer, I'd skip the last nap and adjust bedtime according to baby's need to sleep.

I forgot to add - I would also stop rocking. I did all of the settling (from completely awake) with baby lying in the cot and me lying in my bed next to the cot, with an arm reached over the side of the cot.

Teaches baby to go from awake to asleep stationary and in the cot.

Thanks again - it's good to know how other people work it!

I start to try to get her to sleep around 9ish as that is when I start seeing the sleepy cues but it often takes 30-45 mins before she finally nods off. I'm going to try this first nap in the hot tomorrow and see how it goes!

I pushed her second nap back today - started to get her down about 1.30 she was asleep by 2 and is just stirring now...so no need for a late nap today.

Thanks again

I was advised that the third nap is the hardest to achieve because it doesn't fall during a natural sleep window. While my daughter was having 3 naps a day, I used to get the 4pm one to happen in the pram.

I used to get the other 2 to happen in the cot in a darkened room, both were very similar in duration and time to what you are getting with your little one.

We dropped the 3rd nap just before 8 months as she got increasingly harder to put down despite assisting with movement (and the rare occasions she did nap, bedtime became a struggle)